NO members of North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) staff were available to crew vehicles based at Warrington ambulance station in the early hours of last Tuesday after four employees called in sick.

NWAS chiefs said vehicles were brought in to cover the town and all emergency calls during the four-and-a-half hour period were reached within target times.

But Warrington North MP Helen Jones has said she is 'extremely disturbed' by the news following warnings from union officials earlier this year crews were 'over worked and over stretched' and demand was causing 'tremendously high levels of sickness'.

The MP added: "These warnings from the people delivering the service on the ground should be taken seriously however we are still seeing reductions in cover in Warrington and I know from information I have obtained they are having trouble meeting call targets.

"A difference of even two minutes can be the difference between life and death in emergency calls and the current service is not good enough."

Proposals had been put forward earlier this year for day cover in Warrington to be cut by 55 hours a week but Merseyside and Cheshire area convener for Unison Dave Robb confirmed NWAS has now dropped the plans.

He added: "Nationally response times for ambulances have gone through the roof and consequently people are working that much harder for longer which is impacting on their health and wellbeing.

"There's been an unprecedented amount of calls for this time of year which we can't explain so the pressure is being put on earlier in the year.

"People can't shrug off illness because they're not getting rest periods and are rarely finishing on time doing 13 or 14 hour shifts rather than 12.

"Put it all together and you can understand why sickness has gone through the roof.

"We can't get away from the fact resources are limited but NWAS is making every effort to improve what we do."

An NWAS spokesman added staff and vehicle are moved around the region 'according to need' on a daily basis.

He added: "Due to staff absence, this happened in Warrington on September 23 between the hours of 2.30 and 7am.

“Ambulances were in operation in the town throughout that time and attended four incidents, all of which were reached within seven minutes, against a national target of eight minutes, and despite two only requiring a response within 30 minutes.

“There was therefore no impact on the provision of services in the area due to the staff absences and everyone who needed an ambulance was attended to in good time.”